Tourism minister Kenneth Bryan’s poster demanding ‘Immigration reform now!’ on a billboard at a busy intersection in George Town has come as a surprise to the border control minister.
Dwayne Seymour, speaking on the ‘Doctor Doug in the Morning’ radio show on Gold, said immigration changes have to be done gradually and asked his fellow ministers for patience.
“I’ve just talked in the past with the minister about some of the initiatives that we’re going to undertake and, in terms of immigration reform, this is a big-ticket item,” he said.
“You have to move slowly, and you have to try to get some wins, some low hanging fruit…and there’s a lot that we’re working on right now that we’re going to unveil.”
While he did not detail the exact initiatives, he told presenter ‘Doctor Doug’ Dodds on Thursday, 14 Sept., the ministry is getting the appropriate papers ready for Cabinet.
“I just hope that persons can have patience; even ministers, you know, can have patience with all that has to be done,” said Seymour, who is in Jamaica this week for a conference.
“They know what happens in their ministry when they’re waiting on paper, they’ve got to clear all the legal hurdles, and everything else.”
The border control minister said he is listening to the people and their views on immigration reform, and is trying his best to “ease the pace of growth” in the Cayman Islands.
“Whoever deserves to be here will remain here, but this fast pace of growth is causing mental health effects, it’s causing traffic congestion,” he added.
Seymour suggested there is still a lot of land left to develop, adding, “we’re not a fully developed country”.
“But when we’re developing, we need to ensure that the development benefits Caymanians and we need to find a niche way for us to benefit from development.
“We need to ensure that the growth doesn’t dissuade persons or otherwise, from putting food on the table.”
Bryan, who is also George Town Central MP, confirmed on Wednesday the poster, which reads ‘Immigration reform now! To protect our country, to protect our people’, was his.
He did not respond to further repeated requests from the Compass for comment on the context or timing of the sign.
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